MST3K 111 - Moon Zero Two
The movie A freelance space pilot is hired by an unscrupulous millionaire to illegally redirect a high-value asteroid to crash on the lunar surface. The episode Host segments Prologue: Joel asks the viewers to think of him if they go to the refrigerator for a snack during the break, so he can eat vicariously. Invention Exchange: Joel has created Drive-By Food, which is teleported directly into your stomach. He demonstrates with a cookie and some milk. The Mads have created Pez-like toothpaste dispensers which feature the heads of celebrities known for their roles that involve vomiting. Joel suggests that therapy might do them good. Segment Two: Joel and the Bots put on a play about the first moon landing, ultimately leading to the astronauts being locked out of their rocket after stepping on the Moon. Segment Three: After seeing "Moonopoly" being played in the movie, the SOL crew wonder about other games of the future. Segment Four: Crow and Tom argue about which woman in the movie is more attractive. Joel makes them fight it out in zero gravity like in the movie. Ending Segment: Joel and the Bots name good things and bad things about the movie. Then Joel reads a letter. Trivia * This episode was the first to air during Turkey Day '18. Obscure references *''"Are those the Blue Meanies?"'' :This is referencing the animated Beatles film Yellow Submarine. The Blue Meanies were the music-hating villains that invaded Pepperland in the movie. *''"Oh he's got V.P.L. in a bad way"'' :Visible Panty Lines. *''"Did he get that t-shirt at a Molly Hatchet concert?"'' :Molly Hatchet is a 70's southern-rock band best known for their hit "Flirtin' With Disaster". *''"Works every time!"'' :A reference to a Colt 45 malt liquor ad campaign featuring Billy Dee Williams. *''"Your mother flosses in Hell!"'' :A reference to the famous line "Your mother sucks cocks in Hell!" from the 1973 horror movie The Exorcist. *''"I'm just wild about Harry..."'' :"I'm Just Wild About Harry" is a song written in 1921 for the Broadway show Shuffle Along. * "Doesn't he look like the head of KAOS?" "Bernie Kopell...""The guy from ''That Girl..."'' :On the TV series Get Smart, Bernie Kopell played Siegfried (the head of the international criminal organization KAOS), whom Hubbard slightly resembles. Kopell also appeared in the role of Jerry Bauman on the sitcom That Girl during the same time period. *"You mean crash it, and that's against the law in a big way."'' "He's right, just ask John Landis."'' :A reference to the tragic accident that occurred in 1983 during filming of the first segment of Twilight Zone: the Movie, directed by John Landis. Actor Vic Morrow and two children were decapitated/crushed by an out of control helicopter blinded by the pyrotechnics used during the filming of the scene. *''"Snoopers and Blabbers"'' :Snooper and Blabber was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon about a cat detective named Snooper and his mouse partner named Blabber. Servo says this line with a lisp, impersonating Blabber's speech style. *''"They're wearing Othello game pieces on their head." '' :Othello is a game that has black and white coin-like chips. One side is white, the other side is black. *''"You gotta marry her, Bill. She's got the Wedding Bell Blues."'' :"Wedding Bell Blues" was a hit song for the group The Fifth Dimension in 1969. *''"Hokay Meester Fawlty"'' and "He's from Barcelona" :Both are references to the British TV comedy Fawlty Towers, specifically the character of Manuel the Spanish waiter. *''"Hey, it's Randolph Mantooth!"'' :Randolph Mantooth is an actor best known for his role as Johnny Gage on the 70's paramedic drama TV show Emergency!. The actor on screen physically resembles Mantooth. *''"Its Major Kong."'' :Major T.J. "King" Kong is Slim Pickens' character in Dr. Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Major Kong's iconic last scene involves him riding a falling atomic bomb, similar to the scene of a man pushing a bomb-shaped engine through space in Moon Zero Two. *''"In space, no one can hear a wedgie"'' and "In space, no one can art direct" :Paraphrasing the advertising tagline from the movie Alien; "In space, no one can hear you scream." Behind the scenes MST3K cast Regular cast *Joel Hodgson - Joel Robinson *Trace Beaulieu - Crow T. Robot / Dr. Clayton Forrester *Josh Weinstein - Tom Servo / Dr. Laurence Erhardt *Jim Mallon - Gypsy MST3K crew Full crew Production * This is the first and (so far) only episode to feature a movie produced by Hammer Films, who are better known for their Gothic horror films (which often starred Peter Cushing and/or Christopher Lee). Goofs * Joel gets Crow to say a good thing and a bad thing about the movie, but neglects to give him a RAM chip, like he does for Tom Servo and Gypsy. Movie Edits Like most of the riffed movies, Moon Zero Two was altered to fit within the desired time-slot by trimming several scenes. This film had a particularly high number of scenes which were heavily trimmed or removed entirely, much of it from the subplot concerning Bill Kemp's desire to return to deep-space exploration. Major cuts include: * The initial slow panning shot of the moon base and the landing of Moon 02. * Part of the scene where Kemp and Karminski argue with a customs officer over their salvage. This is the first time Karminski quotes a rule as a means of winning an argument. * A romantic scene between Bill and Elizabeth in her room. This establishes a relationship between them not clarified in the edited version. Elizabeth also reveals that she is supposed to ground Bill's ship at the behest of "the corporation". She demands he either fix the Moon 02 or replace it. If he doesn't, she will ground him. * A scene in which Bill and Karminski discuss the plan to crash the sapphire asteroid. Bill reveals the rockets they will use were from the Mars mission of which he was a part. * The end of the bar brawl scene, omitting Elizabeth arriving with other agents to deal with the situation just after Bill and Clementine leave. * A shot of Bill helping Clementine into her space suit and explaining that the different colors are to help identify each other on the surface. * Shots of Bill and Clementine attempting to contact her brother from Moon Bug 7. * Clementine wondering about the motive for her brother's death. * A scene where Moon Bug 7 is stuck in a dead end and they have to dig out with the buggy's scoop. * Much of the second flight to the asteroid. Hubbard explains his plan for the sapphire: insulating rocket engines to facilitate deep-space exploration. He unsuccessfully attempts to use this to win Bill to his side. Video releases *Commercially released on DVD by Shout! Factory in November 2013 as part of Volume XXVIII, a 5-disc set along with The Day the Earth Froze, The Leech Woman, Gorgo, Mitchell, and The Brain That Wouldn't Die. **The DVD includes an introduction by Hammer Films historian Constantine Nasr, the Ballyhoo Motion Pictures feature Return to Eden Prairie, Part I: The Crew, and a theatrical trailer. *Digitally available through Shout's official Youtube channel (with annotations), Shoutfactorytv.com, Rifftrax, Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, and VHX. Gallery References Category:MST3K Episodes Category:Season 1 Category:Episodes directed by Jim Mallon